harmless wrote:McParadigm wrote:"Should be darker!" is just about the last thing on my mind when I'm going over all the reasons that song sucks.
What else is your mind full of, regarding this song?
It might help a bit, going in, if I say that hearing the sound clip on the vignette didn't do much for me to begin with. It reminded me of something that might open a Genesis song...say, No Son of Mine....only not remotely as quirky, interesting, or atmospheric as that implies. The thumpity-thump progression by itself feels to me like lifeless implied melodrama...the kind of backing they might put to an army/navy/marines ad going into movie theaters that leans heavily on helicopters, guys leaning over other guys' shoulders while they look at screens, and big broad tank shots.
I mentioned in another thread that, while Yield has plenty of overdubs, each individual instrument is extremely unmanipulated. Guitars, bass, drums, vocals… They all vary slightly throughout each performance, and even individual snare hits are inconsistent in their pitch and volume. This is not unique by any means to Pearl Jam records, even if we narrow the focus to just their peers. It's an extension of the base purpose of recording, from day one: to capture, in a shareable way, the sound of musicians performing a piece.
Here, the entire performance has been controlled and processed into clinical and sterile precision. There's an underlying message, or assumption, that exactness equals quality, and it steals a human warmth that used to exist in the band's music.
a huge amount of this album was close mic'd, direct plugged, or only had the bare minimum of room sound included so that Brendan could manipulate to his heart's content after-the-fact
Still, if it had been used as a backdrop for some creative or interesting sonic breath and sparkle, or been granted some really interesting percussion (beyond just the kit), it could have resulted in a decent piece. The base idea could potentially have been the basis for something that, if they'd worked on it during Binaural, would have sat in the aesthetic space between NAiS and Sleight of Hand. Instead, to my ears, the song sounds like they took their second choice for lead-in music to Inside Job, turned it up to wup-wup levels, and then built it into a song that wants so badly to be your friend it doesn't dare reveal any distinguishing personality or emotion. Ed's vocals during the verse do their best to undercut whatever (already two dimensional) personality or attitude the plodding music has, the music IS plodding, and the chorus has but a single life goal: be memorable. Not, be memorable because you did something special or worth remembering. Just...be memorable. Be easy enough to be catchy. Be memorable for being memorable. Like being famous for being famous.
Musically, the shift into the chorus on Swallowed Whole conveys wonder. The band shuffles sideways in the second half of Mind your Manners, introducing a modicum of hope in with the already well-established frustration. Father's Son twists and twitches...hell, even Future Days at least sounds contemplative and warm. With Sirens and Infallible, the music and melody don't convey anything to me other than: "Big."
yeah, there is a lot of hate on this board for the one playing the piano, though it has a lot more to it then just his piano playing on that song
I can't condone this kind of behavior. I can see it being wanky if you don't like that kinda of thing, but ill fitting? naaawwwww.